An insider's guide to the multifaceted profession of
literature—from authorship and scholarship to publishing
and collecting

As a writer, scholar, critic, teacher, bibliophile, and publisher, Matthew J. Bruccoli had immeasurable impact on American literary scholarship and history over the past half century. In his more than one hundred
published books, Bruccoli demonstrated a rare model
of scholarship based on tenacious research, passionate
intensity, and encyclopedic knowledge of his subjects. He
brought this same spirited mode of inquiry to his essays
as well. On Books and Writers brings together thirty of Bruccoli's best short pieces from journals, anthologies,
and other publications to illustrate in a single volume
the remarkable range and enduring contributions of this
accomplished man of letters.

The collection begins with six essays on F. Scott Fitzgerald—an ideal starting point considering Bruccoli's
status as the author's foremost scholar, collector, and advocate.
From there the volume proceeds through thoughtfully
organized sections on Bruccoli's other great interests:
bibliography, publishing and publishers, bookmen, libraries and librarians, and a host of writers including Thomas
Wolfe, Ernest Hemingway, John O'Hara, and Raymond
Chandler. Each piece resonates with the commanding wisdom,
companionable wit, and cordial prose of its author.
The book concludes with a comprehensive bibliography of
Bruccoli's publications.

Edited by John C. Unrue, Bruccoli's friend for some forty years, this collection takes readers inside the profession
of literature in which Bruccoli held such great sway.

John C. Unrue is a professor of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he
previously served as a senior vice president and provost. He is the author of J. D. Salinger, the
Literary Masterpiece series volume on Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, and many articles on contemporary American authors.

"This essay collection—the first to draw from Matthew Bruccoli's wide range of essays on American letters, bibliography, and publishing—shows the many facets of his deep learning. In John C. Unrue's choices and in his introduction, the process of recognizing Bruccoli's contributions to American literary study is well begun."—Linda Wagner-Martin

"Congratulations to John Unrue for bringing together essays on various topics by one of the most distinguished literary scholars of his generation. Matthew J. Bruccoli's comments on books, publishing, libraries, and, especially, F. Scott Fitzgerald, represent a catholicity of knowledge and experience that few now possess, and others have rarely matched."—Joel Myerson